MARIAN SMERCIAK snatched a thrilling extra-time winner for Guildford Flames on Wednesday night to put them into the Premier Cup final.

With the semi-final against Slough Jets deadlocked at 7-7 after two legs, he sent Spectrum into raptures just 45 seconds into overtime by picking up a loose puck and firing high past Dean Skinns.

It sent Flames into a clash against Milton Keynes Light-ning in the final, with the dates to be fixed.

And that completed an excellent few days for the club after reclaiming top spot in the English Premier League with weekend victories over Peterborough Phantoms (6-3) and Wightlink (7-4) inspired by new signing Robert Sobala.

It has the potential to boil up into a glorious farewell for head coach Stan Marple, who departs at the end of the season after 10 years in charge.

After Wednesday’s thriller he raved: “You could see how much it meant to the boys and I’m so happy for all of them, especially after the heartbreak of losing on penalities in last year’s semi.

“We haven’t been to a cup final since 2004 and last won it in 2001, so we are looking forward to the opportunity against MK.”

Flames had not beaten Slough in three league outings but claimed a vital 5-4 success in Tuesday’s first leg. Vaclav Zavoral put them 2-0 up with 13th and 15th minute strikes, Stuart Potts adding a third before the break.

Gary Wishart and Tony Redmond narrowed it to 3-2 and a shorthanded Steve Moria strike levelled matters early in the third session before Nicky Chinn put the Jets in front. Sobala equalised and Rick Plant’s powerplay gave Flames the advantage late on.

It proved crucial with Moria and Lee Cowmeadow sending Slough 2-0 up on Wednesday, Zavoral quickly making it 2-1.

Zoran Kozic put Jets further ahead at the end of the second period, Guildford applying extreme pressure through much of the third.

It was eight minutes from time when Plant put the home side level on aggregate, setting up the match for Smerciak’s divine intervention.

Marple added: “It was an unbelievable 48 hours of seesaw back and forth action. There was enough excitement in the first match but then we had to go through it all again and fortunately got the break in overtime.”